A few years back, Bryzgalov was said to be of golden worth on the trade market, as he had an impressive playoffs. After much speculation, he went on the waiver wire to get picked-up for peanuts.

Ever since, goalies have gone for much lower than their market value. The full and complete realization that goalies' worth on the trade market was now at an all-time low, hit when Luongo got traded for much much lower than his market value.

The return we got for Halak, is almost as good Florida had for Luongo...

Anyone saying Saint-Louis got the advantage in that trade are smoking some really good stuff... really, they did? Please bring out a list of all goalie trades in the post-lockout era, you will see just how much your bias is blinding you.

A few years back, Bryzgalov was said to be of golden worth on the trade market, as he had an impressive playoffs. After much speculation, he went on the waiver wire to get picked-up for peanuts.

Ever since, goalies have gone for much lower than their market value. The full and complete realization that goalies' worth on the trade market was now at an all-time low, hit when Luongo got traded for much much lower than his market value.

The return we got for Halak, is almost as good Florida had for Luongo...

Anyone saying Saint-Louis got the advantage in that trade are smoking some really good stuff... really, they did? Please bring out a list of all goalie trades in the post-lockout era, you will see just how much your bias is blinding you.

Oh stop it, didn't you know that some 19 year old living in his parents basement knows a hell of alot more about running an organization than, let's see, a P Gauthier for example ?

Exactly everyone can ***** and moan about the trade all they want but the fact of the matter is that St. Louis basically got the edge to negotiating for one of the goalies earlier in the season.

I wouldn't be surprised if Gauthier got a call from JD back in the winter that went along the lines of,

JD "Hello, Pierre we hear your going to be moving a goaltender this summer"
PG "Yes, that's correct we haven't decided which will be moved yet or what our desired return is but this will be ringing true in a few months, I take it your interested JD?"
JD "Very, as an act of good faith and possibly the first kick of the can at the end of the season at either. We'd like to do a preamble trade to show our genuine interest and would expect a gentleman's agreement where we will get an opportunity to get a hold of one of them at the end of the season"
PG "Alright, well a potential deal could revolve around one of the goalies and Matt D'Agostini, so perhaps Matt D'Agostini for a prospect now and will complete the deal with the main pieces at the end of the season"
JD " agreed"

Then the final deal become
To St.Louis
Halak
D'Agostini

To MTL
Eller
Palushaj
Schultz

Which is much more fair then people made it out to be

That's a ridiculous hypothesis. Why would PG handcuffs himself in a situation where he has only one trading partner when it's time to shop Halak, and where he HAS TO make a deal with that team, no matter what? If it's true, PG should be fired for it. It's not like Palushaj was a highly touted prospect. He's, at best, a very average prospect who has a 30-40% chance to make it to the NHL on a 3rd/4th line.

But it's nice that a few of you finally admit that "Halak for Eller+Schultz" alone was not really fair.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HomaridII

I am with you on that. IMO the Habs identified the potential trading partners and the parameters of what they wanted in return (a elite forward prospect who was NHL ready NOW, no salary in return) and settled on Eller. After that it was just a matter of negotiating. JD has said that Gauthier only wanted Eller and no matter how much the Blues tried to change the deal, we only wanted Eller. To me, that tells me that the other potential trading partners did not have an elite forward NHL ready prospect, preferebly a center, who we could get in return.

I'm sorry but Eller is still projected as a potential 2nd line center, and I don't think the scouts suddenly see him as an "elite" forward just because he's a Habs.

What's concerning to me is how unwavering it seems we were in our pursuit of Eller. For us to be that high on him we must of compiled some convincing scouting reports. That's what scares me. Our piss poor scouting staff couldn't identify high-end offensive talent if it punched them in the face. This deal could be a potential disaster both hockey-wise and PR-wise.

That's a ridiculous hypothesis. Why would PG handcuffs himself in a situation where he has only one trading partner when it's time to shop Halak, and where he HAS TO make a deal with that team, no matter what? If it's true, PG should be fired for it. It's not like Palushaj was a highly touted prospect. He's, at best, a very average prospect who has a 30-40% chance to make it to the NHL on a 3rd/4th line.

But it's nice that a few of you finally admit that "Halak for Eller+Schultz" alone was not really fair.

I'm sorry but Eller is still projected as a potential 2nd line center, and I don't think the scouts suddenly see him as an "elite" forward just because he's a Habs.

Palushaj was traded for D'agostini... who'll also be very lucky to become a regular NHLer...

aint about fairness, you trade for a need... we had NO ONE playing C in the org besides the ones already with the CH (Plekanec, Gomez... and huh)... yeah, Ben friggin Maxwell...

sure, Halak was great (personally would have traded Price but hey!), but if by trading him we end up with a good 2nd line C, a 4th liner (schultz) and Price playing well... we may be better as a team... wich is all that matters IMO...

That's a ridiculous hypothesis. Why would PG handcuffs himself in a situation where he has only one trading partner when it's time to shop Halak, and where he HAS TO make a deal with that team, no matter what? If it's true, PG should be fired for it. It's not like Palushaj was a highly touted prospect. He's, at best, a very average prospect who has a 30-40% chance to make it to the NHL on a 3rd/4th line.

But it's nice that a few of you finally admit that "Halak for Eller+Schultz" alone was not really fair.

I'm sorry but Eller is still projected as a potential 2nd line center, and I don't think the scouts suddenly see him as an "elite" forward just because he's a Habs.

The idea of the Dago-Palusaj swap that's being thrown around here is laughable and downright pathetic.

What's concerning to me is how unwavering it seems we were in our pursuit of Eller. For us to be that high on him we must of compiled some convincing scouting reports. That's what scares me. Our piss poor scouting staff couldn't identify high-end offensive talent if it punched them in the face. This deal could be a potential disaster both hockey-wise and PR-wise.

A few years back, Bryzgalov was said to be of golden worth on the trade market, as he had an impressive playoffs. After much speculation, he went on the waiver wire to get picked-up for peanuts.

Ever since, goalies have gone for much lower than their market value. The full and complete realization that goalies' worth on the trade market was now at an all-time low, hit when Luongo got traded for much much lower than his market value.

The return we got for Halak, is almost as good Florida had for Luongo...

Anyone saying Saint-Louis got the advantage in that trade are smoking some really good stuff... really, they did? Please bring out a list of all goalie trades in the post-lockout era, you will see just how much your bias is blinding you.

To be honest none of the goalies traded were on the same level as Halak at the time of the trades. There is nothing comparable, same as if Price was traded the return would of been pretty good as well. It would of been the first time out of all the recent goaltender trades that a 22 yr old future franchise goalie is traded.

Comparing it to Bryzgalov and other trades that aren't at all similar doesn't diminish Halaks value imo. Do you think all avenues were explored? What was the hurry? I agree with the majority of the article.

To be honest none of the goalies traded were on the same level as Halak at the time of the trades. There is nothing comparable, same as if Price was traded the return would of been pretty good as well. It would of been the first time out of all the recent goaltender trades that a 22 yr old future franchise goalie is traded.

Comparing it to Bryzgalov and other trades that aren't at all similar doesn't diminish Halaks value imo. Do you think all avenues were explored? What was the hurry? I agree with the majority of the article.

Well, let's hope Price plays well, simple as that. Alex Auld is not going to steal his job, that's for sure. Maybe this will reassure him, take a bit of the pressure off, and he can get into a consistent groove and put a good year. It's a long process developing a goaltender and it was a huge mistake by management in not getting Price a veteran mentor of some kind instead of throwing him to the fire early in his career for a competitive club.

Eller is not that bad of a return for Halak. It's not Bertuzzi for Luongo-esque and it's pretty clear that the goalie market is soft.

That said, I know some will dismiss Halak as a goalie who hasn't played a full NHL season as a #1 and wonder if he can duplicate his success... but the guy has a good track record, battled his way to success in the minors, the Olympics, etc. I'd think he's got a good enough work ethic to be a starter for a long time.

THe Luongo trade wasn't even close to being similar. They play the same position, so what? The circumstances weren't even close. It was widely considered Luongo was not gonna sign in Florida the next season. He had already turned down a deal. Florida was in a position where they had to move him or there was a very good chance they lose him for nothing.

We didn't have to rush IMO. We held all the cards, neither of our goalies could do anything about it.

THe Luongo trade wasn't even close to being similar. They play the same position, so what? The circumstances weren't even close. It was widely considered Luongo was not gonna sign in Florida the next season. He had already turned down a deal. Florida was in a position where they had to move him or there was a very good chance they lose him for nothing.

We didn't have to rush IMO. We held all the cards, neither of our goalies could do anything about it.

The Luongo-Bertuzzi deal is widely considered as a bad deal anyway, and as a brain cramp by Mike Keenan. Keenan had to quit his job shortly after that.

sigh..
of course we got "unproven" prospects over proven NHL regulars.. that's what PG wanted! He wanted young guys with a low cap hit for the next several years who could contribute right away and that's what he got with Lars Eller (and possibly Shultz, who knows).

It's arguable to say he could've gotten an NHL regular on a entry level contract.
Besides, getting a NHL regular with a 3M+ contract would defeat the very purpose of trading Halak (so we could create cap space and sign Pleky)